"You know my son's name, right?"

On the weekends when we make our weekly trip to the comic shop, we'll pick up the freebies that both DC and Marvel give out, essentially catalogs for what'll be out in two months time, as a way to drum up excitement and anticipation.

I usually peruse them and then toss them, but not until after the kids have had a huge fight about who gets which freebie. The trash ultimately claims them.

Anyway, DC recently re-released one of their most famous collaborations from the late '70s:

When I was telling the comic shop owner dude that I wanted it, he was like, "You, uh, know it's fifteen-bucks, right?" "Well," I told him, "my son's name is Cassius." He nodded and smiled, "Fair enough."

I remember the cover, front and back together, had celebrities drawn in there. I remember thinking oh, hey, that's Jimmy Carter and Lucy right there on the front. They even leave a message down on the back cover to check the legend inside to see how many you could name:

Only, the legend shows just how many actual people are depicted...

...so freaking many! And I love that many of them are staffers at DC Comics and Warner Bros.

Anyway, the only way it's possible to make everyone out is the fact that the product is SO BIG. The comic shop guy was like, "Well, that;s how big it was originally." Like, eh, okay...check it out laid up next to a regular magazine, which is already bigger than a regular comic book:

And then the story...is definitely from the late '70s, but is exciting.

I was trying to tell Cass about this...like, this is Ali, man! Superman isn't some comic character, he is the superhero: he can fly, he can shoot lasers from his eyes, bullets bounce off his body, he can punch someone's face clean off their body. He's older than everyone, including Batman. He's handsome and humble and is an invulnerable Boy Scout. He's almost too powerful for proper storytelling.

And people were like, "Eh...Superman vs Ali? Sound about right." Because you KNOW that somehow Ali was gonna win. Ali may lose to Frazier, and the unjust governing bodies of American boxing, but NOT to Superman. He wasn't gonna go kill brown people in Vietnam, and he wasn't gonna lose to Superman. 

Not only does he win, but Ali kicks his ass. He even protects him as they leave the ring:

It's definitely an artifact from a different time. It's big and beautiful, and Ali and Superman, however contrived their boxing match, are fun are to see working together. Also, it's always great to see Ali kick the asses of all comers, Superman and the extra-large Scrubb, Hun-ya.